Denver and the West

Police activity is high, Monday, Oct. 08, 2012, around Witt Elementary School in Westminster after the disappearance of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway Friday as she was walking to school. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

Searchers desperate for a clue in the disappearance of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway got one Sunday on the sidewalk of a Superior subdivision. The child's abandoned or tossed backpack and water bottle were found more than 6 miles from where she was last seen.

He said the distance from Jessica's home to the Rock Creek subdivision in Superior should not be a consideration, though it expands the scope of the investigation far outside an area searched by more than 800 volunteers Saturday.

"At this time, we don't have more information of her being in Rock Creek other than the backpack being found," said Materasso, flanked by FBI spokesman Dave Joly at a news conference Sunday evening.

Westminster police Officers Trae Tripp, left, and Lance Dawson question a resident after the backpack of Jessica Ridgeway was found in the Rock Creek subdivision of Superior on Sunday. (AAron Ontiver oz, The Denver Post)

At about 1 p.m. Sunday, a man in Rock Creek posted on the Westminster town Listserv mailing-list server that he had found a backpack and a water bottle with Jessica's name on it. He was not aware the child was missing and posted, "If this is yours come and get it," Materasso recounted.

The backpack was found on the sidewalk at Andrew Drive and Alpha Court, but investigators Sunday were not able to pin down how long it had been there.

Jessica's mother, a night-shift worker, told police she last saw her daughter walking toward school Friday morning. She reported the girl missing later in the afternoon when she woke to find a phone message saying Jessica hadn't arrived at Witt Elementary School, about a mile away at 10255 W. 104th Drive.

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The backpack's discovery refocused the intense search on a new location.

Detectives, patrol cops and bloodhounds combed through a brushy, autumn-dry greenbelt near where the backpack was found.

Meanwhile, other law enforcement officials stopped cars coming in and out of the neighborhood, and some drivers were asked to open their trunks.

"I have three daughters, so I'm kind of freaking out," Aldo Gurmendi, one of the people stopped, told the Daily Camera.

Earlier Sunday, a bloodhound also searched around Jessica's home on North Moore Street, about a mile south of Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport and about a mile north of Standley Lake.

A young man who answered the door at the two-story home said the family did not wish to comment.

Police went door-to-door questioning neighbors and searching homes. Tina Louisch said police looked in her backyard, garage and laundry room, including inside the washer and dryer.

Louisch said Jessica lived with her mother and grandmother, and possibly another relative.

Other neighbors said the mother used to drive the girl to the school-bus stop and sometimes walk her to school, but as the girl got older she began to go on her own as well as play with other neighborhood children.

"It looked like the kid earned the right to be on her own," said a male neighbor who did not wish to be named. He said Jessica was usually watched over and seemed to be well taken care of.

Neighbors said Jessica's family has lived in the home for about three years.

On Saturday, more than 800 volunteers searched through muddy fields in chilly temperatures as they examined every open space in the surrounding neighborhood.

Searchers covered an area from West 92nd Avenue to West 112th Avenue, and Indiana Street to Wadsworth Parkway on Saturday, Materasso said.

Police didn't call for volunteers for the same area Sunday, but they used a fresh team of four bloodhounds from Larimer County Search and Rescue.

Jessica's father attended a child-custody hearing in a Missouri courtroom Friday. Police don't believe the custody issue is related to her disappearance.

No evidence points to any family involvement, Materasso said.

"We don't have any real focus or attention on any individual," he said.

Well-wishers have set up a Facebook page where those who want to help can find fliers about the child to print and hang in their own neighborhoods.

Materasso said the case is the first in which Westminster police have used social media to such an extent in an investigation.

The intersection where the backpack was found is only a few feet away from the home where Stephanie Rochester killed her 6-month-old son, Rylan, in June 2010 by placing blankets and a plastic bag over his head.

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